My Adventures and Travels

 Listen, normally I am not the type of person to leave a whole post on a resort. Because,  1. I'm a teacher and I can't afford to stay nice places 😆 2. Actually I do budget a lot of money for travel but I'd rather go basic for 3 weeks than all-out for one week. This is an exception. When I checked into my room I felt like I should have been there on my honeymoon.  (There's always the future....Mr. Right, are you reading this right now?!?) Anyway I'm making an exception because otherwise what will I do with these gorgeous room pictures, right?? The place I stayed is called Papua Diving-and they have 2 places you can stay, Sorido Bay or Kri Eco Resort. Due to covid, Kri Eco Resort hadn't reopened-it might be where I had stayed if it was an option-so I stayed at Sorido! Without further ado, here are those pics.  While Sorido Bay had a couple of bungalows for families, I didn't see those. Most lodging is these smaller individual bungalows spread out along the b...

 Although I started the school year in summer of 2020, ie during covid, I decided to travel within Indonesia for the first time during our October break. One of the other teachers goes to Raja Ampat every year and was able to secure a deal if he could get a big enough group, and I jumped at the chance. Although getting here and staying here was NOT cheap, I didn't want to pass it up. Googling "Raja Ampat" told me all I needed to know!  Sad dock. We were literally loading which is why some people are still on shore. This post is mostly the nuts and bolts, in case you're planning a trip of your own. Raja Ampat is pretty remote. From Jakarta we flew into Sorong (4 hours) which is on the island of Papua. From there, the resort arranged our pickup from the airport to the dock. Which *may* have actually collapsed while we were actually standing on it getting ready to board our boat!! We took the boat about 1.5 hours to a govt sign in and to pay the fee for our "yearly ...

If you go to Bolivia and you don't go to the Salt Flats, you are doing Bolivia wrong. Book with a reputable company and read reviews-some of the companies have complaints of their drivers getting totally wasted on the stops and obviously that is no bueno. It is a LOT of time in a vehicle, so be prepared for that. And the lodging falls somewhere between orphanage barracks and prison cells. I know, I'm really talking it up. All that being said, you must go!!! There's nowhere on Earth like it. From a train cemetary, to the flats themselves where salt is harvested, to the "islands", lakes full of flamingos, geysers and hot springs, and high elevation valleys, this is not a place you want to miss. Most tours are about 4 days. 3 is pushing it and longer might be better if you can handle "roughing it." As of spring of 2015 there wasn't even a hint of any sort of cell service or wifi anywhere and the flats don't seem like a place that changes quickly, so...

April 5, 2015 My last trip while I lived in Paraguay was to our neighbor to the north, Bolivia. To be honest, Bolivia wasn't a place I'd ever spent much time thinking about. As I met other travelers, though, and my fellow teachers started venturing there on breaks, I realized I was missing out. For Easter week (semana Santa), I went there with 2 other teachers. Bolivia is truly magical. Part 1: Trekking So you may or may not know that La Paz, at 12,000 feet above sea level, is the highest capital city in the world. Asuncion is 141 feet above sea level. This will be important soon in our story. The two other teachers I traveled with are quite outdoorsy and active. One has even climbed Mount Kilimanjaro! We decided to do some hiking to start our trip. Unfortunately, due to a really wacky election law, NO vehicles of any kind are allowed on the road on election day, which was our first full day in Bolivia. So we really needed to be at our hiking destination by then, gi...

When I went to Patagonia in January of 2014, I knew I'd be heading back the following year. This time, my mom and her husband met me in Punta Arenas and we took an "Active Adventures" tour with tons of hiking. Many of the places (Perito Moreno & El Chalten) I had been to, but several I hadn't (Torres del Paine). I don't normally see places by tour, but it was nice to step away from planning every bit of transportation, food, and lodging for awhile-especially after weeks on the road!! This first batch of pictures is from our four-day "W" trek in Torres del Paine, Chile. And we're off! In our bus to Torres del Paine (blue towers) National Park We saw guanacos and rhea on the way Ready to start! Up, up, up we go. Great views and decent weather for day 1 After we dropped our packs off and had lunch at the first refugio, we continued up, up, up. We made it, and as we arrived, the clouds lifted! These are the towers the par...